r/interesting • u/Separate_Finance_183 • 2d ago

MISC. Michael Jackson was performing in Seoul in 1996 when a fan climbed up a crane to reach him. MJ held onto the fan securely to prevent him from falling, all while continuing his performance

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u/Washburn201961 2d ago

That bastard sounded the same live as he did on records. Never misses a note. Ever.

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago edited 2d ago

Insane. I didn't get it until now but he must've have been majestic to see live. Raw emotion in his voice. So much feeling and intensity. It's incredible.

Edit -  I remember being in school and my music teacher talking about him in 2000? Just about. Not 10 years later and he's left this world. It's surreal.

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u/Washburn201961 2d ago

Back in his prime everyone would have liked to see him live. The thriller years.

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u/MrsMondoJohnson 2d ago

I remember the video debut for Thriller in 5th grade at a youth group pizza party.

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u/RupeThereItIs 2d ago

I remember running upstairs & hiding from the Thriller video when it would come on.

I was like 5 years old & it was scary.

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u/Odd_Pool_666 17h ago

I think I was 9 and a latch-key kid. Saw it alone in the house and I was frozen. Couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t change the channel. In 1980, I watched The Exorcist by myself at age 6 in the dark downstairs when visiting my parents’ friend’s house. Huge house never been there before. Frozen. Couldn’t stop watching couldn’t change the channel. Damaged.

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u/another_jackhole 44m ago

Tell me more, 

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u/Odd_Pool_666 37m ago

Held my pee for the longest time. Found the courage to run upstairs feeling like shadows were chasing me. Made it to safety. End.

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u/another_jackhole 35m ago

Good stuff. Thank you. Any more? 

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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 1d ago

We'd call the radio station all day requesting it, then tried to get the tape recorder to record it when they played it, without fucking it up. Suddenly dawns on me that my parents were cheap af. I didn't own an album until I bought Def Leopard's Hysteria on tape with my yardwork money when I was a teenager.

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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 1d ago

We put a copy of Thriller in our school time capsule in elementary school.

Kids used to walk around with one white glove on to emulate his fashion. And those jackets from Beat It of course.

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u/RupeThereItIs 2d ago

Yeah, this video just reminded me how shit his post Thriller music was.

I mean, his singing & performance WAS amazing in this video... but the song itself was a stinker, like ALL his music after Thriller.

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u/another_jackhole 1d ago

I never said I was a fan. I just appreciate the performance. I think you're right 

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u/Important_Cod_8970 2d ago

He held him tighter than Blanket...

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u/eamus_catuli_ 2d ago

Saw him live. Was majestic. Only wish I was a few years older so the memories really stuck.

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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 1d ago

My first concert was a Christian metal band with the church youth group. Stryper or something like that. I didn't get to go to good concerts until I had my own car and money.

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u/pm_nachos_n_tacos 1d ago

Hey man, STRYPER unironically kills it live

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u/OrdinaryAward4498 5h ago

For the people on this thread there’s a documentary called Off The Wall that ends before things get too weird and shows off a ton of live performances — astounding live performances. I think I saw it on Netflix but not sure where it is now.

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u/ElaHasReddit 2d ago

He’s lip syncing in this clip

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u/saleemb88 1d ago

Friend of mine went to two of his concerts. She's probably the most level-headed individual I know. She went to two of his concerts and never once saw him perform live. The instant he appeared on stage she passed out.

Twice! Lol.

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u/bannedbrengol 2d ago

He did but he usually used playback during this song and other songs that were supposed to be more story-driven rather than being music-focused when doing live

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u/MyDickIs3cm 2d ago

Well there's also the wind going 75mph during the song so that also would have ruined it.

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u/FuManBoobs 2d ago

He did have a lot of fans.

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u/ANakedCowboy 2d ago

I read this then immediately left the thread and had to come back and upvote you once it registered a half second later

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u/sentence-interruptio 2d ago

he prevented the fan from falling. he prevented fan death.

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u/nsg337 2d ago

get out

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u/LieFearless1968 21h ago

His mics never picked up the wind during the intro of Beat It so that wouldn't have been a factor here either

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago

Damn it! Haha 

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u/Desperate_Damage4632 2d ago

I mean, he is lip syncing in this video.

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u/joshTheGoods 2d ago

Right which may explain why he was so committed to continuing the show. If he doesn't it breaks the illusion for thousands on that day and millions over time. Look how many people in here think that was him singing live...

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u/Elegant-Principl 2d ago

Its usually the case when performers are dancing. It takes a lot to sing and dance and sound that perfect.

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u/joshTheGoods 2d ago

Yea, it definitely makes sense. I don't know how they did it back in the 90's, but nowadays high level performers will switch between recorded vocals and actual singing. I bet MJ did similar, and this part of the song was one of the sections they chose to use pre-recorded for.

There are some interesting case studies here ... I'd call out Beyonce because she's legit legendary for singing and dancing at the same time. She still has strategically placed sections where she's just marking or lip syncing to catch her breath, but she's still mostly actually singing in her shows. Pink, same thing. I think she basically sings all of her sets even when she's doing circus shit.

There are a bunch of videos out there where people compare waveforms between shows and prove out what is recorded and what is sung ... definitely an interesting 1 day rabbit hole. Here's a good starter.

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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 1d ago

I hate that. I don't give a single fuck about them dancing. I go to a concert to hear music. Live music. Not a recording.

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u/raggedsummerdress 1d ago

You go to the concert to see the show. You want 100% live vocals? Go see Foo Fighters, but Dave Grohl ain’t gonna dance like Beyoncé.

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u/Proof_Vegetable_3751 1d ago

But even them put a show... they will do it differently, with drums show off, by talking with the public, but still they will not just sing. Everyone will have their spin in how to perform to the audience. Look at Ramstein for example, they don't dance but still put off a show.

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u/No_Thanks_1766 1d ago

MJ had lupus that messed up his lungs bc every time he got sick on tour, it would take forever to heal and they got scarred. Dancing was an art form for MJ as was singing. He gave everything in his performances, even though he had a lot of chronic health issues. I don’t think it’s fair to lump him in with other performers who just lip sync bc it’s easier (btw not saying you’re doing that, just wanted to point it out for others who are)

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u/pm_nachos_n_tacos 1d ago

Nah, I go to a show for a performance and the whole production. If that includes bits where they use back tracks so I can see them dance in person, I'm down! I want to witness everything they can deliver in person. Everyone will still get their sets of live vocals too, I ain't worried.

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u/Cunt2113 1d ago

I'd put Fergie on this list too lmao. He one handed cartwheel singing is still hilarious and amazing lol

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u/Robou_ 2d ago

Yeah it's so obvious, he adjusts his mic and there's 0 difference in sound

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 2d ago

Not only that, but you see the kid yelling mouth wide open probably as loud as he can like 4 inches away from MJ's mic and it picks up none of it?

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u/Porkhole-Santookus 2d ago

It's also not picking up any of the wind noise from the stage fans, and there should be a ton of it with the amount of air he's got moving around him.

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago edited 2d ago

uhhh everyone in this chain has no idea how microphones and audio processing works. There are hundreds of variations of microphones and most that are used in live performances like this can block out most noise and only pick up noise from directly in front of it hence why the mic is very close to his mouth(yes there will still be some mic bleed, but that is removed with a noise gate google it if you don't know what that is). Even if this was a performance with a hand held microphone that in combination with an noise gate that only outputs when Michael speaks you can get very good sound and keep in mind Michael is one of the biggest pop stars ever he sure as hell had world class sound engineers working on these live shows.

And yeah this isn't live at least in some moments. SO many people don't realize how important Front of house sound engineers are for stuff like this. Most of the time like in this scenario Michael may have been singing live. and at the sound board they are running the recorded backing track and vocal track. the vocal track being level matched with Michaels live vocals( they do this during sound checks) and when Michael is singing everyone is hearing his live vocals and the pre recorded instrument tracks etc... and the pre recorded vocal is muted and on stand buy. Now the Engineer sees a fan running up the crane and you bet your ass the Engineer at some point(between vocal breaks) switches to the pre recorded vocal track and mutes his live vocal just so things go smoothly and after the fan is dealt with or until the next song he switches back to the live Michael to be heard. As the stereo type goes sound guys are not appreciated enough haha

also bonus info: this is why rehearsal is recorded with all the same things like the fans blowing up at him in this video and everything running. Because if the engineer wanted to swap from the live vocal to a normal cleaner recorded vocal it would obviously sound off or different from how it did before because that clean vocal wasn't recorded with all the external factors of a live performance (like the fans blowing etc... That's why there are pre recorded "live" vocals so the switch from pre recorded "live" and actual live vocals can be indistinguishable when a switch is made.

i mean geez anyone with a gaming headset that uses discord is essentally doing the same thing to elimante room noise using discords sound gate....

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u/Porkhole-Santookus 2d ago

Even though microphones have pickup patterns, they don't completely isolate sound. There's no microphone and engineer on the planet that can cleanly pick up vocals in a wind tunnel.

I'm a musician that performs live with a band, and I personally own about a dozen microphones of different types and pickup patterns.

Regardless of the microphone's pickup pattern, not a single one I own would be able to cleanly pick up and isolate vocals with that much air movement directly into his face while he's turning his head in different directions with his shirt constantly flapping inches from the microphone.

It doesn't matter how directional the microphone is when it's in a vortex. This specific performance is pre-recorded vocal playback with a live band.

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago

how do you explain news reporters having good audio during storms then? look up videos of reporters in the middle of storms you get good clear audio form their vocals and then you just set up a noise gate bellow a cetain threshold and you get pretty dam good vocals many not clean but mixed into a live instrument track you would barely be able to hear much else in the vocal track besides the performer.

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u/Porkhole-Santookus 2d ago

how do you explain news reporters having good audio during storms then?

They don't. They sound terrible. Here:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cITmP-yTkn8?feature=share

They're all someone shouting into a microphone struggling to be heard with terrible dynamics, and you can clearly hear the wind noise even when this reporter is standing behind the news van. When she's directly out into the wind, it's unbearable. This is what Michael should sound like, even with a directional headset mic.

Contrast this to the Michael clip, where his microphone is somehow able to retain his voice's high-end breathy transients while screaming into wind, and perfectly isolating all the environmental noise (including him physically moving the headset boom).

It's playback. Michael is using playback here. Movies use ADR for loud environmental scenes for a reason.

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago edited 2d ago

you are misunderstanding what im saying. when the reporter speaks mid storm THE VOCAL is clear regardless of external conditions. In news reporting they leave the wind sound in on purpose. if you use a sound gate you would only hear the reporter when she speaks. Im saying you CAN get clear VOCAL audio during wind storms. and its even more impressive that her vocal is being picked up as cleanly as it is because she is holding it so low.

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 2d ago

Right? Get ME one of these magical directional mics that never picks up anything except what's directly in front of it in one linear direction... no feedback ever again, ever! I'll take 20 of them, I don't care what the price is lol

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u/MO_MMJ 1d ago

Professional live audio engineer here. That's not how gates work. Or how microphones work. That much wind would absolutely come through a mic like that, especially back when he was performing.

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 2d ago

Wow. This is an absolutely impressive amount of bullshit all in the service of saying:

"NUH-UH... Michael Jackson DID sing this live... except for the parts where he obviously didn't.. and that was because he had a sound gate that somehow magically filtered out everything but Michael's voice in real time (which is not at all what a sound gate is btw) and he also had wizard sound engineers who would expertly and seamlessly switch back and forth between his live vocals and a recorded vocal track in the event that some crazed fan jumped on stage with him and yelled into his mic."

OR.....

He was just lip syncing. And you're a guy that maybe set up the audio for karaoke night at a bar once and you want to sound smart on Reddit.

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u/linc186 2d ago

I have spent way too much time on this godforsaken website. Everybody is so needlessly hostile.

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 2d ago

You're finally right about something. This is silly to get that worked up over. And I apologize for my part in the hostility.

But as far as the argument goes, you're plain wrong. I'm an amateur musician and music producer who works with lots of mics, as is the other guy.. and anyone who's worked with mics for even a little bit knows this is clearly and obviously lip syncing.

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u/linc186 2d ago

I'm finally right? Do we have a history together? I didn't make any argument lol. I'm not the other guy buddy

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u/Skipitybop 2d ago

Why are you so upset about this?

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 1d ago

I don't abide bullshit

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago

you guys are actually clueless. I mean what about like news reporters reporting during storms. you get damn good audio from lavs and mics in that context in high pressure winds.... i swear anyone reading this for gods sake educate you selves people really don't know anything about audio

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago

btw if you think pressing a button above a track to mute it and another to unmute it as Wizardry you are an idot.

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago edited 2d ago

dynamic cardioid or super cardioid mic plus a noise gait is industry standard for live vocals. You are literally the guy you are accusing me of being lol and yes you can do that processing in real time. and a sound or noise gate is how that works idiot here you go i googled it just for you because you are too dumb to do it yourself: noise gate is an audio processor that automatically mutes or lowers the volume of quiet sounds (like background hiss, room hum, or MIC BLEED) while allowing loud, desired sounds (like vocals or a snare hit) to pass through.

i mean geez anyone with a gaming headset that uses discord is essentially doing the same thing to eliminate room noise using discords sound gate. You are actually an idiot bro. literally the same thing.

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u/zeethreepio 2d ago

most that are used in live performances like this can block out most noise and only pick up noise from directly in front of it hence why the mic is very close to his mouth

Hence why there would be huge changes in sound quality as the mic moved during the large adjustments we can see with our eyeballs.

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u/GoTerrapins 2d ago

Tell me your microphone experience is once at an open mic with 1 mic without telling me

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u/LieFearless1968 21h ago

Listening to the intro of Beat It on his solo tours there's no wind or fan noise so mics definitely can only pick up vocals

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago edited 2d ago

yes it wouldn't pick up the kid at all. those microphones are specifically designed to only pick up what is directly in front of it and have a narrow pick up pattern. There is a reason why every popstar that sings and dances with crazy props and things like pyrotechnics on stage wear ear hook microphones. And yes he probably isn't singing live but your reasoning for why you suspect it is wrong. most perfromers use a backing track mixed with live vocals but it doesn't seem that that is being don here.

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u/julex 1d ago

Yes, cardioid patterns exist, And because if they are not perfectly pointed at the mouth while in the dark and a person moving so much that requires constant readjusting, it’s a horrible sound when the singer doesn’t realign in time or perfectly and it looks bad to have a tech to try to micro adjust on stage or even backstage in the dark, that’s why proximity to the source is enough and omnidirectional microphones are preferred in this cases.

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u/Real-Macaron-9392 2d ago

Sure buddy. There's not a microphone in the world that can perfectly isolate in one singular direction and not pick up someone yelling 4 inches away from it on the other side.

That's just not how sound or microphones work. But go on with your bullshit.

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u/GuyWithGusto 2d ago

dude you literally don't know what you are talking about. Yes there is. I guess technically it would pick up the kid but at a signifcanly lower level that in combination with a noise gate set up like most engineers do in live performances the kid would not be heard in the output. haha also read my other comment in this thread explaining what most likely happened anyway during this clip :https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/comments/1x6nbkn/michael_jackson_was_performing_in_seoul_in_1996/pgyk02c/?context=3

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u/CScorpio88 1d ago

Those head mics are not uni directional z it will only pick up what directly in front and quite close too

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago

Dang it! :p

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u/badt33nparkinglot 1d ago

Thank you! That's what I wanted to know! MJ is a genius talent, but can you sing like that when hanging on to a random unexpected addition to your crane performance??

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u/Anubis17_76 2d ago

if he is lipsycning, its damn near perfect. the timing is spot on, even for changes in the vocals where you clearly see his jaw is working hard. are you sure this wasnt just live audio that got cleaned up for the recording or something?

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u/lostedeneloi 2d ago

Yeah that's why it's lip syncing, because they sync their lips.

This is the most obvious video of lip syncing in the world. His mic positioning keeps changing, he is holding a random guy, he keeps moving unnaturally, and the music is exactly the same.

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

Looooool

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u/BodManFeg 2d ago

Ugh...

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u/narf_hots 2d ago

That would be because of lip syncing. There are some live recordings where he actually sings to be fair and he sounds great.

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u/JerkyChew 2d ago

Yeah, cynical me assumes he continued his performance because he had to, otherwise we would have gotten a Milli Vanilli / Ashlee Simpson moment.

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u/YesNoIDKtbh 2d ago

Watch his performances from the Bad tour, he sang everything live then and it was fantastic.

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

He’s not singing this song live

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u/toothpasteonyaface 2d ago

That's because this is lip sync.

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u/Salty-Manner7001 2d ago

Right? When the kid got on the crane, it looked like he was screaming, but we didn't hear him in the mike.

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u/AyeHaightEweAwl 2d ago

The mic MJ is wearing is a Crown CM-311 headset. It uses a rather unique pickup pattern called "differoid", which is an incredibly tight-focused cardioid variant. It only picks up sound from directly in front of the capsule, from a very close distance. We wouldn't have heard him either way.

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u/Preparation-H6969 2d ago

What a load of bullshit.

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u/AyeHaightEweAwl 2d ago

I promise you it’s not. This is the same mic several singer/dancers use, as well as singing drummers. The entire point of using that particular mic, (or its handheld version, the 310) is that it rejects sound from anywhere but directly into the front of the capsule, which gives the sound engineer a cleaner signal to work with.

That being said, it is most likely that MJ was lip syncing in this clip. That doesn’t change the physics of how the mic works.

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u/Preparation-H6969 2d ago

That's true but it's not going to cancel out someone yelling into it from 2 inches away, especially with no change to the singers voice.

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u/Frunkleburg 2d ago

when was that guy yelling into it? he was yelling away from it, so the mic wouldn't pick it up, which seems to be exactly what the last guy explained to you

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u/AyeHaightEweAwl 2d ago

Which part of “directly into the front of the mic capsule” ie. the part that’s pointed directly at the singers mouth, are you not understanding?

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u/BodManFeg 2d ago

"REEEEEEEE I don't have any knowledge about something so it must not be true REEEEEE" Are you always this insufferable?

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u/PurbulentTriest 1d ago

Your name certainly echoes your attitude. Give it a rest.

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u/Korsof 2d ago

Indeed. I'm a huge MJ fan and will always defend him but he tended to overuse lipsync in his later years. Could be explained by the fact that he lacked the stamina he had when he was younger (to sing and dance at the same time) and was regularly sick during concerts

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u/agawl81 2d ago

He was so underweight that I doubt he had the physical strength to do both.

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u/Swimmingindiamonds 1d ago

Also a huge MJ fan. Joe Jackson pushed him too hard and never taught him to take care of his voice as a child. His voice was shot in the later years. I was actually at this Seoul concert as well.

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u/WTF_CAKE 2d ago

But he did do both for a while so idk about overusing

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u/traceitalian 2d ago

Why would you defend him knowing what we know about him?

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u/Korsof 2d ago

Well because i've spent 100+ hours reading official court documents and nothing proves his guilt. If it proves anything, it's that the accusers' parents were after his money.

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u/stillhavingfunyea 2d ago

That’s what I was thinking.

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u/CalmBuilding226 2d ago

Def not

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

Are you simple? Like seriously

0

u/CalmBuilding226 2d ago

Seriousree

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago edited 2d ago

Poop

Thanks everybody who downvoted me saying poop. I hope you're happy. :j

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u/_i_read 2d ago

Pretty sure he's lip syncing

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago edited 2d ago

Maybe

Edit - /s

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

No not maybe

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago

It was a joke. I know it's obvious. 

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u/supervillaindsgnr 2d ago

There was at least some lip-syncing he did live

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u/Washburn201961 1d ago

I never thought he did. I though Millie Vanilli started that trend and it stuck. Michael seemed a bit old school, though. Maybe he lip synced his albums, too. I have know idea.

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u/Doublechinmask 2d ago

Because he never actually sang.Thats a fact. It was all playback. He was one of a kind singer/talent ofc but he was always ablout show first with his dancing and you can't dance like that and sing well for whole concert.

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u/YesNoIDKtbh 2d ago

Uh, he did though. Not in this video, but during his Bad tour he sang and danced for 2 hours straight. It's on youtube.

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u/Lindethiel 1d ago

Yokohama '87 specifically, for those who want a good watch.

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u/LieFearless1968 21h ago

He was a little sick there so Tokyo 1987 was even better (shame about the video quality tho)

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u/830rez_at_dorsia 1d ago

Have you ever hit a mic before? You’d hear a massive audible thud when he smacks his own in this video of that was on as he was singing.

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u/Sea_Feedback5862 2d ago

I'd have to catch my breath amidst the song

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u/Spedicanto 2d ago

HOW does this have 18 upvotes? The entire victory tour, BAD tour, Dangerous tour, triumph, destiny tours, etc. were all sung completely live albeit 2-3 songs from the later tours.

This is just plain ignorance at this point.

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u/No_Thanks_1766 1d ago

He sang live during the bad tour and some of Dangerous tour. He had to stop singing live because he had chronic lung issues from getting sick when he toured (laryngitis, bronchitis etc) that kept coming back due to his lupus. His lungs were permanently scarred because of it and it was noted in his autopsy.

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u/NewtAccomplished6022 2d ago

I wouldn't say he NEVER actually sang but he lip singed sometimes as well as sung live because he could actually sing his songs.

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u/ColoredTriangles 1d ago

You're deaf

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u/banu_musa 1d ago

Mimechael Jackson

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u/ShoddyArrival4012 2d ago

Lypsyncing at its peak

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u/ba_an 2d ago

Yeah, I don't know why MJ preferred to lipsynch when he had perfect pitch. Maybe all the dancing he wanted to do? You can look up his true live performances. His voice was incredible and spot on every time.

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u/timelessblur 2d ago

He did it because he was a perfectionist. Plus as he age his voice physically could not hold the near studio grade sound while doing all the physical activitis. It was to make ti sound near perfect and they would turn on and off his mic for certain parts that might be veniue or for him to say something live. fairly common pratic.

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u/Spedicanto 2d ago

In the late 90s he had a lot of health issues and laryngitis.

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u/RJrules64 1d ago

Having perfect pitch doesn’t help you sing very much. It helps you recognise notes by ear.

Not denying Michael was an amazing singer but it’s not related to perfect pitch

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u/finnjakefionnacake 1d ago

too many "y"s!

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u/Remarkable_Spite_209 2d ago edited 2d ago

No dude. MJ was an amazing singer.

Edit: I get it. I didn't watch the video because I don't have speakers.

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u/ShoddyArrival4012 2d ago

Never said he wasn’t. But he’s clearly lip syncing here.

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u/Throwthisawayagainst 2d ago

So while I do think he’s lip syncing (the give away is actually when the kid smashes the mic and there isn’t a sound, not that he adjusts it) this isn’t live audio in the house during the show. It could be a mix down of a multi track it would technically be possible to edit those things out and then the sync to video won’t be perfect. For all we know this is different audio laid over the video(which I’m actually betting it is). Just my 2 cents

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

Bruh. For the History Tour, he lip synched most of the show. The audio is the album acapella track the band is playing along to.

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u/Throwthisawayagainst 2d ago

I’m just saying there’s no way of telling if this is the actual audio from the concert or not from the video.

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

actually there is a way. You can already tell because its a lofi vhs recording. Or you could watch the full video on youtube...

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u/Throwthisawayagainst 2d ago

lol that proves nothing. It’s obviously not area mics from the crowd is all I’m saying.

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u/JunkDrawer84 2d ago

He was an amazing singer yes. He also lip synched like in this video

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u/upholsteryduder 2d ago

...that's because they were playing his records and he was pretending to sing over them...

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u/Pantim 2d ago

Oh please, that isn't true. I grew up listening too him.. he wasn't perfect and you could tell when he messed up. You can even tell in this video. He was just really good at picking back up. 

He also is in the era of stars doing a lot of crazy stuff LIVE without backing and you could tell. 

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u/overtired27 2d ago

This is 100% lip synced. It’s not even controversial.

The Bad tour was mostly sung live, and took a toll on his voice. The Dangerous tour had a bunch of playback but still a decent amount of live vocals. By this History tour the vast majority was lip synced. It’s very easy to tell the songs that are live or not.

This song especially where he is absolutely belting the hell out of his voice, would have wrecked him if he even attempted it night after night during a full show with all the choreography. This is a pushed to the limit in the studio vocal for this point in his career. He’s miming.

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u/another_jackhole 1d ago

That's what I was picking up on. The whole ferocity of it, disregarding the lipsyncing. It's understandable. 

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u/Degovan1 2d ago

It’s incredibly obvious in this clip…he moves the mic and the sound doesn’t falter at all, the other guy shouts into his face extremely close and the mic doesn’t catch anything, and the wind is massive yet doesn’t wash out anything….the only way it would be more obvious he’s syncing is if he’d stopped to talk to the guy, cause the track would for sure have kept rolling.

Also-there is a clear difference in any recording of MJ between when he is dancing and you can hear his breath/body movement affecting his vocals (as anyone’s would) and when the track is completely flat behind his dance moves-and this is one of those times. His “scream/throaty” phrases are the same between when he is “hunching” to play it up, and when he is working on the Korean guys arms, clearly different physical movements-exactly flat vocals.

If you are fooled into thinking this is Live, you should just be aware-you are completely gullible to lip-syncing in the extreme :)

1

u/upholsteryduder 2d ago

I grew up in the 80s-90s and it was well known even then that he lip-synched, he just got a pass because of how popular he was unlike milli-vanilli LOL

1

u/raggedsummerdress 1d ago

He got a pass because unlike milli-vanilli it was still his vocal performance.

Milli-vanilli was so maligned because the dudes on stage never actually sang at all.

There is a world of difference between a pop star in his mid 40’s using a recording of his own voice because it’s impossible to breathe and dance like that vs two dudes chosen for their looks, who couldn’t sing pretending to be pop stars.

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u/another_jackhole 2d ago

Yeah. Could be 

2

u/rakuan1 2d ago

I guess the only way we’ll know for sure is to ask that korean guy

1

u/another_jackhole 1d ago

Oh he definitely heard him. It's not like with all that extra noise he had to mute himself. That's my thinking at least. 

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u/Rube18 2d ago

He’s lip syncing lol.

2

u/youallsucktwice 2d ago

He was lip singing lol

1

u/Washburn201961 1d ago

All his concerts?

1

u/youallsucktwice 16h ago

All artist lip sing for some songs and concerts.They cant be in perfect shape every single time.

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u/leva_brown 2d ago

Fanera, sir.

1

u/garynevilleisared 2d ago

He dad made sure of that

1

u/timelessblur 2d ago

A lot of artist in thoe venues and shows like that use prerecord tracks as the shows are so physic holding the quality at performance grade or studio grade is near if not impossible as often they are going to struggle to breath at times. It also helps protect their voice so they dont have to go full tilt the entire time.

1

u/TheBonesRTheirMoney 2d ago

We will never see a more well-rounded, polished performer.

1

u/floofboops 2d ago

I don’t think this is the live audio. The quality is too good. Sounds like the song was added after and synced

1

u/Caek294758 2d ago

Yeah there's no way you wouldn't have hear the fan and the struggle through that mic of it was actually live. That was definitely lip syncing.

1

u/Washburn201961 1d ago

Cool. That fan looked like he was actually screaming.

1

u/MarsupialIll1004 2d ago

Isn't that a playback? There are a lot of moments he didn't move his mouth in time and the kid screaming surely would be picked by the microphone that was basically as close to him as it was to a kid

1

u/Pleasant-Highway-745 1d ago

You don't get that this was lip synced?

1

u/Washburn201961 1d ago

I didn't see it. So you're saying his concerts were all lip synced. I can't see that.

1

u/Pleasant-Highway-745 1d ago

Can I ask you where, exactly, I said in my comment that all of his concerts were lip synced?

1

u/Washburn201961 1d ago

You didn't. I was asking because a lot are saying the same thing and never specified, like you, that they were only talking about this performance. So I thought maybe you might know. That's all. 😁

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u/Pleasant-Highway-745 1d ago

I've never seen every single one of his performances. Sorry

1

u/Dougwii 1d ago

He’s clearly lip syncing here

1

u/Washburn201961 1d ago

Thanks for the awards. Very much appreciated. 😁

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u/hambone33 1d ago

This is what I was wondering. Is he lip syncing and if not how in the hell is this possible?

1

u/Dottore_Curlew 1d ago

Are you slow?

This is not how singing works, he sounds the same when he hastily grabs on to the guy as he does on the normal stage

It's lip syncing.

1

u/awnaw_ 2d ago

That's how you know they're good AF. This is particularly true for metal if you ask me. It's astonishing listening to an album thinking it's amazing. Then once you hear the band live it sounds even better. It's wild.

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u/ShoddyArrival4012 2d ago

He’s lip syncing 😭

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u/awnaw_ 2d ago

Even if he is here, Michael Jackson sounded very impressive live. With that being said though my point still stands. There are artists out there who sound just as good if not better live.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/awnaw_ 2d ago

If you don't think so then I'm guessing you have very poor live music experience.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/perceptioneer 2d ago

Stop self snitching

1

u/perceptioneer 2d ago

I know what you are talking about. Some bands are good/great on album, but even better live. It's because they are live bands and get great joy from playing live.

I can explain why for the doubters. There’s many reasons, one is that they have the experience and budget to keep professionals with them to mix the sound right.

The band feed off the energy from the audience and vice versa. They feed off eachother. When you are playing live, you can do that in certain ways and channel the kick into playing with more oomph. When playing with playback, you are less flexible, as instrument or voices are pre-recorded.

The band has had a lot of time to know their own songs and develop them further making them better and more exciting and there is sometimes small room to improvise, making the concert feeling more alive and spontaneous.

You don't get none of this with playback.